By Pascal Ibe

Claim

A popular Nigerian songwriter and social media influencer, Charly Boy has claimed that the military-ruled Mali is debt-free.

Verdict

This claim is FALSE.
Findings confirmed that as of September 30, 2024, Mali’s outstanding purchases and loans (SDR) were $344.68 million. The country’s national debt is projected to increase by $4.4 billion between 2024 and 2029, reaching a peak of $16.36 billion in 2029.

Full Text

A popular Nigerian songwriter and social media influencer, Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has claimed the Maki is totally debt-free.

In an X post on 15th November, Charly Boy said that the country’s Finance Minister announced that Mali would become the first African country to be debt-free.

“He shared a photo of what looks like a blog post and wrote, “Mali is now a debt free country.

“The country Finance Minister has announced, Mali becomes the first African country to be debt free.

“After the military took over, they sold all the assets belonging to the corrupt elites and sent them to jail including former president’s son & Ministers.

“When will it be our turn?

The post garnered over 240k views, more than 1.5k reposts, and 5k likes, according to X analytics.

FACTWATCH observed that African Hub on X also claimed that Mali, under General General Assimi Goita’s reign, officially became the first African nation to be debt-free.

Background

The western African country, Mali, experienced the latest military takeover on the night of 24 May 2021 when the Malian Army led by Vice President Assimi Goïta[4] captured President Bah N’daw,

Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Minister of Defence Souleymane Doucouré Assimi Goïta, the head of the junta that led the 2020 Malian coup d’état, announced that N’daw and Ouane were stripped of their powers and that new elections would be held in 2022. It is the country’s third coup d’état in ten years, following the 2012 and 2020 military takeovers, with the latter having happened only nine months earlier.

Verification

A simple Google keyword search indicated that as of September 30, 2024, Mali’s outstanding purchases and loans (SDR) were $344.68 million. The country’s national debt is projected to increase by $4.4 billion between 2024 and 2029, reaching a peak of $16.36 billion in 2029.

According to data from the website of a credible economy analysis, the BTI index revealed that total debt service reached $292 million in 2021 – a historical record – and is projected to increase in 2022. Public debt reached $9.0 billion in 2021, accounting for 51.94% of the country’s GDP, with an external debt of $6.0 billion.

In 2022, Mali did not recover from the economic contraction COVID-19 caused. The budget deficit reached XOF 273.2 billion in September 2022, compared to XOF 127.86 billion in September 2021. This is because fiscal revenues decreased by 12.55% in the same period, while expenditures only decreased by 1.7%. To bridge the gap, the government initiated a sovereign bond campaign.

Also, data from Statista disclosed that the national debt in Mali was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by a total of 4.4 billion U.S. dollars (+36.64 percent). After the tenth consecutive increasing year, the national debt is estimated to reach 16.36 billion U.S. dollars and, therefore, a new peak in 2029. Notably, the national debt has continuously increased over the past years.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the general government gross debt consists of all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future.

On Oct 20, the Malian government said it would pay off 200 billion CFA francs ($332 million) of its internal debt by the end of the year in a bid to ease its debt burden, its economy minister said on state television.

Malian Economy Minister Alousseni Sanou acknowledged the “increasing challenges we face” as he announced the debt repayment. He did not give an overall figure for the size of Mali’s internal debt

There’s nowhere Mr Sanou declared that Mali is debt-free.

Conclusion

The claim that Mali is debt-free by Charly Boy is out of touch with reality. Therefore, it’s FALSE.